Richard Stengel has a bleak vision of the world's future - so bleak, in fact, he compared it to Westeros. During Monday's Social Good Summit, the under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs provided a dystopian outlook for 2030 - in contrast to the optimistic visions several other panelists presented - in hopes of mobilizing today's youth to get more involved and start preparing for the future as soon as possible.

The development community can no longer “stick its head in the sand” when it comes to tackling the political, economic and social issues that lie at the roots of fundamentalism, conflict and inequality, the head of a leading research centre has warned.

Talk about America’s decline is usually wrong. But how else would you describe a country that, in a world of exploding tensions, is unable to confirm dozens of ambassadors to foreign posts because of partisan squabbling? Even by Washington standards, the Senate Republicans have hit a new low for hypocrisy. They denounce President Obama’s inaction on foreign policy — and simultaneously refuse to confirm his nominees for U.S.